The foothills of Colorado’s eastern slope form a dramatic meeting place of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. In this transition area between prairie and mountains, grasslands intermix with scrublands of mountain mahogany and scrub oak, and these shrubs eventually give way to evergreen forests at higher elevations. In spring and summer, orange paintbrush, white yucca, and blue penstamon add color to the landscape. Many animals thrive there, including noisy magpies that build huge, ball-shaped nests in foothill trees, blue-and-gray scrub jays that collect oak acorns and push them into the ground for winter storage, and mammals such as long eared mule deer, chipmunks, coyotes, and mountain lions that find plentiful food and shelter in the foothills.